The Republican Party’s first midterms convention had all the trappings of the traditional presidential election-year gathering: supporters in sparkling costumes, a conveyor belt of candidate speeches, and vendors selling campaign merchandise.
President Donald Trump, whose grip over the party remains absolute, delivered a lengthy keynote speech on Wednesday during the opening night of the two-day event. He covered many of the subjects he has returned to time and again this year – with a few surprises thrown in.
Here are the key takeaways from his address.
1. Preaching to the MAGA choir
The vast arena was filled with diehard Trump supporters sporting red MAGA gear from his past presidential campaigns. A decade after his first White House run, Trump is still beloved among his base and he has bent the party to his will in the years since.
The old-style Republican establishment, or what’s left of it in the Trump era, was nowhere to be seen. Senator Susan Collins of Maine and other Republicans running in competitive races chose to stay away.
The absence of more moderate Republicans was glaring and offered a reminder of just how much the party has changed.
It also raised questions about the effectiveness of holding an unprecedented midterm convention in the first place.
The core audience, both in the arena and watching on television, appeared to be Trump loyalists, not the moderates and swing voters the Republican Party needs to turn out in large numbers in November.
2. It’s still Trump’s party
Trump’s total grip on the party raises some pointed questions about its future. Namely – who will replace him? And more immediately for November’s elections, how will it perform when his name isn’t on the ballot?
Trump offered a simple solution to the latter question on Wednesday night. After warning that the sitting president tends to lose the midterms, he told the crowd: “I’m asking you to pretend that I’m on the ballot.”
The remark was an acknowledgement by Trump that he remains the party’s best driver of turnout. It also speaks to the challenge Republicans have both in November and in the next presidential election in 2028.
Trump will not be on the ballot again, and though he can continue campaigning for the party, there is not a clear or obvious successor who can rally the base quite like Trump.
In interviews with the BBC, convention goers often looked ahead to the election in two years’ time and debated who Trump’s successor should be. Vice-President JD Vance and Secretary of State Marco Rubio were frequently mentioned as top contenders.